On Wednesday, Sony announced that it would be forming a subsidiary called Aerosense Inc. to build drones equipped with sensors for enterprise customers. Sony added that it would be teaming up with a Tokyo-based startup called ZMP, which will own half of the subsidiary.

Aerosense will be grown out of Sony's mobility unit, which also makes sensors that are found on Apple and Samsung smartphones today. But despite its origins in a more consumer-oriented branch of Sony, Aerosense will eschew...